


Uneven

by Baconfat, Squeemu



Series: the only light we see [8]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blind Ignis Scientia, F/M, Gen, Gladio coping by being a jerk, Luna lives, M/M, Post-Chapter 9
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2018-12-08
Packaged: 2019-09-14 00:58:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16903089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baconfat/pseuds/Baconfat, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Squeemu/pseuds/Squeemu
Summary: "Are you hurt?" Luna asked."I'm fine," Noct told her."You know," Prompto pointed out, "that would be a way more convincing lie if there wasn't blood all over your face."





	Uneven

**Author's Note:**

> Check out the [series page](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1195687) for the proper reading order or to subscribe for updates.

With the scuffle finally broken up, Ignis listened while Noctis's footsteps moved up the stairs, Prompto and Lunafreya following. Good. He wouldn't be alone.

"What the _hell_ , Gladdy!" Iris exclaimed.

"Forget it, Iris." The scrape and creak of a chair being pulled out and forced to support Gladio's considerable weight. "Not your problem."

"Why are you _being_ like this?" she demanded.

"I've had enough," Gladio growled, "of watchin' him lie around acting like _he's_ the one who got hurt!"

"He almost lost Lunafreya!" Iris argued.

"Yeah," Gladio said. "Almost. Look at what Iggy _actually_ lost. You don't see him whining about it."

Ignis was forced to keep his mouth closed to avoid saying something they would all regret. 

Iris let out a sharp, brittle laugh. "You're right, he's not. The only person _whining_ here is you."

Silence, but for Gladio's sharp, steady breathing, his chair creaking ominously.

"You think you're so tough," Iris went on, her voice shaking, "but all I see is a big, scared baby throwing a tantrum."

She stomped off, heels thumping on the wood floor, and slammed the door in an impressive imitation of her much larger brother.

"Iris!" Gladio yelled.

Ignis turned away, moving to the end of the table. Nothing he was inclined to say at the moment would be productive, so he sat down, silently cursing the lack of privacy in this bloody shack, and turned the radio on.

Gladio did not attempt any further conversation. Eventually he hauled himself up and left the house.

Ignis listened to the news and the Meldacio monster report, aware that somewhere under his exhaustion he was furious.

The question was what to do about it.

\--

Noct went upstairs to try and get away from everyone else, but Luna and Prompto followed him up and into the bedroom. 

"Are you hurt?" Luna asked.

"I'm fine," Noct told her.

"You know," Prompto pointed out, "that would be a way more convincing lie if there wasn't blood all over your face."

Noct wiped at his nose. "Gross," he sighed.

"Let me see," Luna said gently, taking his face in her hands. Noct's pulse picked up like it was ready for another fight. She had a light scatter of freckles across her nose, so pale he'd never noticed them before, and her eyes were such a clear, clear blue it felt like she could look right through him and see every single way he wasn't good enough. But she was smiling at him anyway.

She leaned in, closing her eyes, and Noct's heart skipped and tripped over itself trying to beat its way right out of his chest. But all she did was rest her forehead against his for a second and then pull away. It took Noct a minute to notice that the ache in his head and the pain in his jaw had melted away.

"Th-thanks," Noct managed.

Behind her, Prompto was trying to slowly back out of the room. He was going to leave them alone.

"Prompto," Noct said. 

Prompt winced. "Sorry, I'll just —"

"Get in here and close the door," Noct told him, and went to the bathroom to wash the blood off his face. 

When he came back out, the two of them were sitting across from each other on the beds, Prompto nervously wiping his palms on his pants. 

Noct made himself sit next to Luna, and noticed that Prompto's hands were shaking. He always did get upset when anybody yelled. 

"Sorry," Noct said. Luna took his hand, lacing his fingers with his. Noct's heart jumped around a bit more. "I kind of... lost it."

Prompto blinked at him.

"I saw that Ignis was hurt _again_ , and then Gladio —"

"Dude," Prompto said. "I wanted to deck him too, but if I had I would have broken my hand and then _he_ would have broken _me_. So, uh, thanks?"

Noct didn't quite manage a laugh. "Anytime," he said dryly.

"Like, where does he even get off saying stuff like that? I don't get it."

Noct did, though. "He's got a point."

"Noct, no —"

"I'm supposed to be some Chosen King, or whatever, and I can't even protect the people I —" His throat went tight. It took a second before he finished, "The people I care about."

"But... we're Crownsguard. I mean, I know I'm not, like, _real_ Crownsguard —"

"Prompto. You did the training and you took the oath just like everyone else."

Prompto flushed, waving that aside like it didn't matter. "E-exactly, dude! The oath! To protect you no matter what!"

Noct grit his teeth. He didn't _get_ it. "I don't want to be safe if it means you guys aren't."

Prompto faltered. "Well, sure, I mean, it's not like we're making you hide in the car while we go bust a base. Though I think maybe Ignis wishes we would."

Noct rubbed a hand over his face.

"And it's not like we're, say, going head-to-head with a pissed-off water goddess the size of the Wall. Alone."

Noct let out a breath. "That's kinda my job."

"There you go," Prompto said. "We let you do your job, and you let us do ours."

"How am I supposed to do that," Noct growled, "if I can't trust you to take care of yourselves?"

Prompto looked lost. "I know we've had some close calls, but we're trying."

"Ignis put the Ring on," Noct said, voice breaking. 

Prompto hesitated for half a second. Then, "Oh. Oh man."

"You _knew?_ " Noct demanded.

"No! I mean, not — not for sure, I just kinda figured? When we finally made it to the altar you two were passed out and the Ring was on the ground and Ignis just kept asking if you were," his voice caught, "if you were okay and Gladio was so, so, so upset. And angry and — and convinced Ignis was dying."

Noct's eyes were burning again. "What the hell was he _thinking?_ "

Luna squeezed his hand, and when she spoke her voice was calm and distant. "He was outnumbered by Imperial soldiers, and the Chancellor had a blade at your throat."

Noct sniffled, swallowed. "You saw?"

"Some of it," she said. "Even with the help of your curatives I was weak and fading. Powerless." She was looking past him, now, eyes unfocused, and Noct tried not to think of that last day they saw each other as kids. She swallowed, blinking, and just like that she was back with them. "I'd like to think it would have occurred to me to wear the Ring if I could have reached it."

"No!" Noct snapped, jerking his hand out of hers to grab her arm. " _Never_." He looked over at Prompto. "You _either_ , Prompto. Promise!" 

Prompto held his hands up. "Not planning on it, dude. Pretty sure that thing would incinerate me if I even _breathed_ on it."

Fuck. Noct rubbed at his eyes, put his head in his hands. He was going to have to put the Ring on just to keep anyone else from doing it. Just thinking about touching it made him want to throw up. 

"It's —" Prompto started, stopped. "If Gladio's mad at anybody about what happened, it should be me." He fiddled with his wristbands, twisting the leather. "We — we were all together, on our way to come help you, when this dropship crashed and the bridge collapsed and — and Gladio grabbed _me_. Instead of Ignis." 

Noct stared. There was an ache in his chest, closing up his throat.

Prompto wrapped his arms around himself. "That's how we got split up. Gladio and I spent hours trying to find another way around, when if he'd just —" His voice wavered. "If he'd just saved Ignis instead, maybe none of this would have happened."

"Or maybe you'd be _dead_ ," Noct growled. "He made the right choice."

Prompto bit his lip.

"I'm serious, Prompto," Noct said. "Ignis is — he can take care of himself."

"Not anymore," Prompto muttered.

It knocked the wind out of Noct. "Luna's going to heal him," he said. "And — and even if she can't, it's Ignis. Even blind he'll probably still be able to do more than both of us put together."

Prompto let out a laugh, finally. A weak and breathless one, but still a laugh. 

"And —" He made himself say it. "If anything happened to you, there's no way I'd ever forgive myself."

Prompto did that thing with his face where he scrunched it up while he tried to think of something funny to say instead of crying.

"I'm the whole reason you're even out here."

Prompto blinked, wiped at his eyes. "Well, yeah. If it wasn't for you, there's no way I'd be out here helping people and fighting and actually, like, making a difference." Noct opened his mouth but he rushed on, "And sure, scared out of my mind half the time, but. Even if I were back home, even if I made it through the invasion somehow... without you guys around I'd still be scared, _all_ the time, but instead of helping people I'd be hiding and hating myself for it."

Noct swallowed. "That's not true." He took a breath. "You'd be out taking photos."

Prompto snorted.

"And hitting on girls."

Prompto flipped him off, remembered Luna was there, and tried to pretend he was just scratching his nose with his middle finger. "Shut up."

"Remember the time we were in line at the movies and you got in a fight with that guy who was being a dick to his girlfriend?"

"Oh my god," Prompto said, dropping his head to run his hands through his hair. "Barely. It was like some outside force had possessed my body. Some incredibly malicious outside force that wanted to get me killed by forcing me to call a guy four times my size a _douchecanoe_."

Luna laughed, hard, trying to muffle it behind her hand.

Noct grinned. "I guess calling it a fight is maybe an overstatement."

"It was really more of a hit and hit and run," Prompto agreed. "I hit him with my devastating wit, he hit me with a fist the size of a small car, and we ran."

"We never did get to see that movie," Noct sighed.

Prompto waved that off. "I heard the ending was a downer. And anyway, the fight scenes probably would have been a disappointment after experiencing the real thing."

Noct snorted out a laugh. "Feels like forever ago."

"Yeah," Prompto said. "Uh, why did you bring this up again? You know, aside from embarrassing me in front of your girlfriend?"

 _Seriously?_ Luna laughed at that, which was the only thing that saved Prompto from getting a pillow thrown at his head. "I was trying to say that you're braver than you think. As long as there's a cute girl around."

Prompto flushed. "Yeah, the problem is getting them to stick around."

Noct thought about it. "And the part where you have to actually talk to the girl."

"Could you stop pep-talking me now?" Prompto asked.

"Gladly."

"Anyway," Prompto said, leaning back and grinning, "I'd rather be out here with you than home safe in bed any day."

Noct rubbed at his neck, looking away. "Thanks, Prompto."

"Even if it means dealing with bugs and flat tires and like eight thousand different things that want to kill us. And the rain. So much rain. And _fishing._ Hours upon _hours_ of —"

 _"Thanks_ , Prompto," Noct said again, louder this time.

"Plus, this way I finally got to meet Lady Lunafreya! _And_ she laughed at one of my jokes!" 

"Right," Noct said smoothly. "At your jokes."

"Well, not as hard as she laughed at my pictures of you," Prompto said, smirking.

"Damn," Noct conceded.

"And those weren't even the best ones!" He pulled out his camera. "You're going to _love_ the ones from the Chocobo Post, Lunafreya. Assuming you love chocobos as much as I do, which, I mean, is pretty much impossible, but _maybe you will_ after you see these shots." He grinned at her, then glanced at Noct, eyes widening. "Or! I could save them for later! And leave you two alone to talk!"

Noct managed not to groan.

"I'd love to see them," Luna said, laughing. She moved over to make room between the two of them on the bed. "Please, have a seat."

Prompto _beamed_ at her, pretty much vibrating with excitement, but checked Noct's expression first.

Noct laughed, patting the bed. "You heard her."

"Sweet!" Prompto said, flopping down between them. "Okay, so the important thing to know before you look at these and judge us is that none of us had ever ridden a chocobo before. _Especially_ Noct."

"Neither have I," Luna said.

Prompto looked at her like she just confessed that she'd never been hugged before.

"You won't want to after you see these photos," Noct warned her.

"Dude!" Prompto freaked. "We have to fix this! Like, right now!"

"Or," Noct said patiently, "we could wait until Luna's all healed up."

"Right! Right," Prompto said. "Good idea. Okay, so the important thing to know before you look at these photos is that domesticated chocobos are normally very tame, gentle, and friendly creatures. Normally."

Noct groaned.

\--

Ignis's opportunity came after supper, when they were all gathered upstairs listening to Prompto tell some tale of their derring-do, slightly exaggerated for effect. Lunafreya and Talcott in particular seemed quite engaged, gasping at all the appropriate moments and occasionally laughing at inappropriate ones.

"Gladio," Ignis murmured during a particularly heroic scene, "a moment of your time?"

A pause, and then the quiet scrape of his chair, followed by Gladio's hand on his arm. Good. So he was being discreet. That would make this much easier. 

"Where are you going?" Noct's voice cut through the story.

Blast. "Out for some air," Ignis assured him.

A small, telling hesitation before Noct allowed, grudgingly, "Fine." 

Ignis ignored the thread of indignation. Noct was only looking out for him, he reminded himself. Gladio's fingers tightened on his arm, but for once he managed to hold his tongue. It was a relief when they made it down the stairs without further incident. 

He could tell when they approached the threshold by the way Gladio's fingers shifted slightly, his brief hesitation before the next unmeasured step. Ignis had gotten no better at reading the terrain, but he was growing quite versed in reading his companions. 

There was a cool breeze coming off the sea, smelling of salt and rustling the leaves. 

"What's up, Iggy?" Gladio asked, keeping his voice quiet. The door was still open, by the sound of it. Prompto was either simulating an explosion or having a coughing fit.

"I am... concerned," Ignis began, taking care with his words, "that my injury may be causing dissension among the group."

Gladio snorted. Ignis imagined he was scowling, arms crossed. "I'd say."

"I understand that my limitations, such as they are, raise some serious security concerns," he continued. "Justifiably so. And as the King's Shield, the task of keeping him safe falls squarely upon your shoulders."

Gladio shifted, the boards on the deck creaking.

"It's a terrible burden," Ignis said softly. "I sincerely regret that I have added to its weight."

"Iggy —"

"But if you ever lay a hand on Noctis again, I assure you it will be your last act as the King's Shield."

Heavy silence. After several seconds, the rustle of fabric. Was he drawing himself up in outrage or drawing a fist back in anger? "Seriously?" Gladio demanded.

"Dead serious."

"It was _his fault_ ," Gladio growled.

"You were provoking him."

"He started it!" The others were going to hear them. "He hit me first!"

Ignis did not roll his eyes. "You are the King's Shield," he reminded Gladio evenly. "It is your sworn duty to protect him from all threats, yourself included."

After a moment, Gladio let out a breath. "I wouldn't have hurt him."

"Gladio," Ignis said, letting his tone soften, "he's already hurting. The events in Altissia shook him badly —"

"He's not the only one, Iggy," Gladio snapped. "The rest of us have feelings, too."

Ignis blinked. Of course Gladio had feelings; for the past few days he'd been making his feelings about Noct, in particular, quite clear. For all that Gladio had often coached Noctis on remaining calm and suppressing emotion in the heat of battle, he himself was doing a rather poor job of it now that the battle was over. "Nevertheless, my point stands. I don't care the reason. There are no circumstances in which getting into a brawl with the King of Lucis is justified." He paused. " _None._ Particularly not for you."

Silence. "We done here?" Gladio asked finally, voice sullen.

"That's up to you," Ignis said coolly. "But if you wish to get into another fight, I could certainly use the training."

The silence stretched long enough Ignis worried he'd overstepped.

Gladio finally let out a snort of dry amusement. "Not tonight," he said finally. "That King of yours is watching us. Hate to start another brawl."

Oh. Dear. "Very wise of you," Ignis said faintly.

"Ready to head inside?"

He couldn't very well say _after you_. "If you would be so kind..." he said instead, and allowed Gladio to take him once again by the arm.


End file.
